As usual, the border to level two of River City is filled with commuters, many of whom are tourists and residents appealing for access and expressly being denied. Long queues stretch from the ramp and snake down the main corridor of level one. But, Reiku has no intention of waiting. He grabs Ms Eeve by the arm and fiercely pulls her along towards the guards at the front. Kita follows closely behind Reiku’s ripples of frustrated queuers who arrived long before they did.

As he reaches the front, a guard raises a hand at Reiku, “You've cut the line. To the back,”

Reiku says nothing and simply shifts Ms Eeve in front of him. She scoffs at Reiku, with her golden teeth glinting in the warm artificial light. She then fixes her hair and pats her clothing down before grunting, “That will not be necessary,”

The guard's expression drops to concern when he recognizes Ms Eeve, “I’m so sorry Madam, I didn't see you there,” He says, flustered.

“Reiku is a tough man to see through… or past,”

Kita chuckles, quickly stopping when Reiku growls in frustration.

“Tell him,” Reiku grunts.

“Right,” Ms Eeve says, passing a timid glance to Reiku before leaning closer to the guard, “Listen, I’m going to need you to let them through with me,”

“These two, Ma’am?” The guard says, pointing at Kita and Reiku.

“And a few others,” She says scratching behind her neck.

“Who?”

“All of the level zero citizens,”

The guard’s face turns from concern to agony, most likely due to the conflicting orders of listening to level three citizens whilst never acknowledging level zero inhabitants. Based on this guy's expression, letting them to level one will surely get him fired or possibly killed.

“I, uhh-” The guard stammers, struggling to look Ms Eeve in the eyes.

“I will do everything in my power to make sure you aren't punished for this, alright- uhh,” Ms Eeve says, looking for a nametag, “Kyle,”

“Ma’am, I appreciate that, but they aren't even allowed on this floor,”

“There are some very dangerous people putting their lives at risk,” Ms Eeve sighs, “If they die, many of the basic services we take for granted daily will cease to exist, do you understand Kyle?” Ms Eeve presses.

“I understand, Ma’am, but I just-”

“What's going on here, Private. You're lines not moving,” Kyle’s sergeant butts into the conversation.

“I’m sorry, Sir. But Ms Eeve here is requesting we allow passage to all of the level zero inhabitants,”

“Level Zero?” The Sergeant raises an eyebrow, “Why the hell would we let them through?”

“For their safety,” Ms Eeve says, “They’re in danger and protection from the guard would-”

“Denied,” The Sergeant interrupts.

“What?” Ms Eeve and Reiku both bark.

“Oh, boy,” Kita shrugs.

“They are not permitted access to Level Two. These are priority orders,” The Sergeant confirms, pointing at the crowd of level zero inhabitants behind Reiku.

“You would let us all die in the face of danger?!” Reiku yells as he steps up to the sergeant, but the sergeant doesn't budge an inch, and glares at Reiku before responding, “I’d kill you all myself if those were my orders,”

Reiku grabs the Sergeants shirt but Ms Eeve separates them before he gets a good grip, “He’s trying to trigger you,” She says as they take a step away from the guard, “He wants an excuse to use force,”

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“Clever,” Kita smirks.

“Their lives are at risk!” Reiku yells past Ms Eeve.

A few more guards gather around the ruckus as a crowd begins to spectate the conflict.

“That is not the guard’s concern,” The Sergeant says before looking at Ms Eeve, “Would you like us to escort you home, Ma’am?”

Ms Eeve stammers, briefly looking at Reiku and Kita before dropping eye contact.

“I-”

“She’s with us,” Kita says, putting an arm around Ms Eeve’s shoulder.

The guard scowls at Kita before looking back at Ms Eeve for a response.

“I would like to go home please,”

The guards all raise their weapons at Kita, Reiku and the level zero inhabitants behind them. The Sergeant then walks over to Ms Eeve and extends a hand. “Right this way, Ma’am,”

Kita grips onto Ms Eeve’s shoulder, stopping her from stepping towards the Sergeant.

“I said she’s with us,” Kita repeats, with a growing tone of frustration.

Several guards focus their sights on Kita, and with the sudden shift of barrels, Kita counts five guards aiming at her and six aiming at everyone else. It will be tough, but I can kill them all.

Before Kita casts a spell, Reiku puts a hand on her shoulder. When she turns to look at him, he slowly shakes his head, “We can't put innocent people at risk,” He says before staring at the Sergeant, “We are NOT the monsters,”

Kita sighs, realizing the truth in his words and she reluctantly releases her grip on Ms Eeve. Allowing her to take the Sergeant's hand and walk beyond the wall of guards with the weapons still fixed on everyone. Kita momentarily locks eyes with the Sergeant before her stomach drops because of the look in his eyes.

“Open fire,” He casually orders.

“You-” Reiku screams before a barrage of bullets hurls at them and the level zero inhabitants.

Kita immediately casts a shield that extends the entire length of the main hallway. Bigger than any of the ones she’d cast before, she used twenty souls to empower it- Lowering her reserve to one hundred and twenty-seven souls.

The bullets all collect in the shield wall as surrounding spectators gasp and murmur at Kita’s display of magic.

“Retreat!” Reiku yells to all of the level zero citizens behind them, prompting the crowd to begin running in a frenzy.

Kita can feel her body straining due to the size of the shield, despite it only using ten souls, it's taking a lot of concentration and energy out of her. This is a first. She realizes as she worries about how much longer she can keep the shield up.

“Ugh,” She grunts as she continues to hold the shield up for as long as possible.

“A little longer,” Reiku says as he places a hand on her shoulder, noticing her growing exhaustion.

The guards all stop firing as the majority of them begin reloading and Reiku taps Kita on the shoulder, “Alright, let’s go!”

Kita drops the size of the shield to surround just herself and Reiku before they both start running. By the time the guards finish reloading, they aim their sights on a sea of level one inhabitants and tourists- cueing them to lower their weapons.

“Good job, Black eyes,”

“Thanks,” Kita grunts with a tired breath.

Kita looks over her shoulder to see the guards slowly squeezing their way through the crowd. When Kita looks back in front of her, she crashes into a group of level zero inhabitants running back towards the border.

“You're going the wrong way!” Reiku calls out as they notice more and more people start running.

“They found us!” Yells a level zero person.

Kita regains her footing to the sound of gunfire ringing in the distance and she looks at the guards again to see them closing in.

“This isn't good,” She says. “Where are the kids?”

Reiku glances around before seeing two of the black-eyed kids huddled by an alleyway. “There,” He says before dashing in their direction.

“Kita!” Jan yells as a group of assailants approach him and the other black-eyed child.

Kita follows behind Reiku as they run through the panicked street, pushing and bumping into people running in the opposite direction.

Two of the three assailants each raise their guns at the children, and when Kita realizes she won't get there in time, she drops her shield and casts it around the kids right before they fire. The bullets ricochet through the alley before one connects with an assailant's leg.

Reiku reaches the kids and quickly batters the remaining assassins with a few hefty punches.

They must be Ch-

Before Kita can finish her thought, a steering pain pierces her abdomen. Promoting her to lower the shield and scream in agony. When she looks down at her stomach, she sees the handle of a blade prodding out of her. With shaky hands she slowly grabs the hand and pulls the blade out of her stomach- a stream of blood seeps out the wound and Kita clutches as she drops to a knee in an attempt to subdue the pain.

As she winces and moans at the ground, a shadow steps over her and prompts her to look up to see Chevo’s face grinning down at her.

“Still hurts, huh?” Chevo chuckles.